Some tricky cluing, with a few bits of tough parsing left to work through at the end. Lots of nice surfaces and definitions – my favourites were 4ac, 12ac, 17ac, 3dn, 14dn, and especially 4dn. Thanks to Tramp for the puzzle.
Independent 11,504 / Phi
Friday is Phi-day once again this week. I found this to be a medium difficulty puzzle by Phi and Indy standards. I made steady progress before needing to cheat to get 16D, which … Read more >>
Financial Times 17,504 by GOLIATH
A gentle challenge from GOLIATH this Friday.
Guardian 29,157 – Brockwell
Quite a tricky solve from a relative newcomer to the Guardian (though he’s been around a bit longer at the Independent as Grecian) – thanks to Brockwell. There’s an obvious theme, with several … Read more >>
Independent 11503 / Rodriguez
A puzzle from Rodriguez today, a setter who has appeared on the Independent roster regularly recently. I enjoyed this and had to think quite a bit on quite a few … Read more >>
Financial Times 17,503 by GURNEY
Gurney provides this morning's 11dn.
Enigmatic Variations No. 1603: Pie Crust by Jaques
What has Jaques served up for us this EV week? For PIE CRUST, will we have to fil-o the grid with some unusual ingredients?…and will our efforts prove a bit flaky?!…
Guardian Cryptic 29,156 by Picaroon
Apologies for the late blog and to anyone who commented on the placeholder which has now been deleted.
Independent 11,502 by Eccles
Our Wednesday challenge this week comes from Eccles.
Financial Times 17,502 by IO
As IO goes, this was relatively gentle.
Inquisitor 1816: Gridlocked by Soup
Here is the last in the sequence of 5 debutants: Soup’s first puzzle for the Inquisitor though he has set puzzles for The Guardian. Preamble: Rows and columns represent streets, with arrows … Read more >>
Independent 11,501 by Angel
Angel fills the Tuesday slot this week – our first blog of a puzzle by this setter. We started off at a rate of knots starting in the NW corner and working anti-clockwise until we ground to a halt in the NE section. No idea why after having solved the clues.
Financial Times 17501 Bobcat
Thank you to Bobcat. Definitions are underlined in the clues. Across 1. Key operative to restrain drunk at hearing (6) TYPIST : Homophone of(… at hearing) [ “tie”(to restrain/to bind) + “pissed”(slang for … Read more >>
Guardian Cryptic 29,155 by Soup
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29155.
Guardian 29,154 / Brendan
What a treat for a Monday – a Brendan puzzle, which always means a great start to the week for me. It didn’t take long to detect the theme – doubles, twins, etc … Read more >>